Snippet...

My friend mentioned today that one of her friends from College was actually getting her novel published! Needless to say I was a tad jealous...and I was actually inspired to get things really going with my updates! Here's hoping I get more written for your enjoyment! Congratulations to the lovely lady for her advances in publishing! I'm really happy for her...and here's a pat on the back for me to keep motivated and continue writing.

Anyway, that was not the purpose for this post. The purpose of this post is to give you another taste of what I was working on. I hope you enjoy it. And as always (I say this ALL the time I know) feel free to respond. Let me know what you think! Let me know if my writing is good or bad or wonderful and inspiring or terrible! Just get out there and let me know what you, my dear readers, are thinking!

And now...onto the snippet!

“You are absurd Jenna!” Adam fumed throwing his hands in the air, “I can’t believe you!”



“That’s not fair!” I retaliate, my blood starting to boil, “You don’t understand what I’ve been through. You don’t know anything!”


“It’s not healthy to keep everything bottled up! You can’t just ignore these problems, hoping that they will go away and refusing to seek out help if you need it! It’s ridiculous.” Adam grabbed my elbow gently, “You can’t do this on your own.” He was speaking softly now.


I jerked my arm away forcefully, and shot him a glare, “You don’t know anything,” I ranted, “You don’t know what I’ve been through and you don’t know how I’m dealing with things!”


“Oh but I do Jen,” he replied stoically his eyes narrowing slightly, “I know all too well how you’ve “dealt” with this. You’ve avoided. You’ve pushed people away and refused to acknowledge the pain the comes with life. You can’t look beyond the death of your parents and actually move forward. You’re stuck in the same rut and you don’t want to be free of it. You don’t want to let them go.” His words were coming out as a whisper now and he moved closer to me, “Jenna, you have to let them go. You can’t keep fearing the memory of their death anymore. You have to move on.”


Tears had welled up in my eyes, “You don’t know what I’ve been through.” I murmured half heartedly. I knew that my statement was a lie. Who, above all others, would know the pain of losing those closest to you better than Adam? The man who couldn’t age or die? The man trapped into existence, never truly living; never having the opportunity to experience the richness that life had to offer; always on the sidelines.


“Your father was my best friend,” He whispered quietly. My head shot up in surprise.


“What?” I was baffled.


“Your father was my best friend Jenna, and your mother became like a sister to me. I loved your parents so much more than you know.”


“You, you knew my parents?” I was confused now.

Why I'm a Blogger...

Today in my English 291 class we discussed informal writings, specifically journals and letters. What I posted about was how these texts really spoke to me and really struck me with their connectability. And I posted my beliefs on the website, whether or not it actually appealed to anyone.

I started thinking about why I'm a blogger...good question right? I realize that not many people may read what I write...and many who do read it may not even care about what I'm writing. But, it doesn't really matter. I'm writing because I want to be a better writer and I know that the more I write, the more experience I get. And I hope that I will make progress as a writer, becoming more understandable and enjoyable to readers.

But, that's not the only reason that I sit down to write on my  blog. The main reason I write a blog, both personal and as an aspiring novelist, is because I believe that I have a voice. I have the ability to express myself. I am capable of stating my thoughts and feelings and being heard...or at least stating how I feel in case anyone wanted to KNOW how I felt...

It may be kind of silly for me to think that I have the right to state what I want and make thoughts and ideas known to the rest of the world. But you know what? I really don't care. I believe that I'm intelligent and capable of standing on my own to feet. I believe that I have the ability to be independent and smart and to make comments without having to refer to what other's may deem as the smart and "cool" responses.

And in connecting to the 18th century journal writings, I'm not the best journal writer. In fact, I've fallen off the bandwagon completely. But, I realized that I wanted to blog more often and I've tried to do that. I've tried to make my blogs like my journal, essentially. And when I write a journal, I make it a point to express how I truly feel. It's my opinion that if someone later on in my existence will read my journals, they will know my inner most thoughts and feelings, so why should I be afraid to express how I feel now? Why should I withhold myself from stating how I truly feel?

And as a writer I think it's finding that form of expression that really appeals to people as readers. What engages someone the most, is the ability to connect to the writer and understand why they think the way they do and HOW they think. The understand the innermost workings of a person is a vital part of life as well as being a writer.

At least that's my opinion-

I will upload my little scene from the novel later tonight...I just thought you'd like to hear my little rant.

-The Novice Novelist

Just Call Me a Writer...

I may never get published...I may never have my book read by millions of people and have fame and fortune...but that doesn't matter. I'm a writer. I write because it makes me happy. I write because it allows me to express my inner most thoughts and ideals. Writing expressions ME.

I will always be a writer, regardless of if I ever become famous. I will always have the ability to make myself known in writing. I will always have a great ability to do what I love.

And I will never stop. Not for anything. My writing isn't based upon the amount of response I get. my writing is about me.

A Dream...

I had an interesting dream last night and I think that I could either make it into a story of its own or turn it into a piece of the novel I'm working on.

The story of the dream followed a girl (me) who was orphaned and then adopted into this ancient English castle where people seemed to be stopped in time. However, this girl breaks the rules and ends up having ot evade the guard out to get her.

It was really quite a remarkable dream and I found it to be interesting and amazing. I hope that I can get everything written out for you to enjoy. The dream was so profoundly interesting that I found myself wishing I could see the end of it!

Maybe tonight then eh?

-The Novice Novelist...

A Confession...

I'm apologizing, first and foremost, for not updating when i said I would. But can I just offer a simple explaination as to why this did not happen?

You see these last few weeks have been tiring for me, both physically andmentally. I've felt at my wits end trying to figure everything out and to get through with all the things that I've needed to do. And these last few days in particular have really taken it out of me. I've had so many different emotions running through my head that it's been hard to focus and feel determined to get anything done.

A couple days ago I was sitting in one of my classes and I just kept thinking about how frustrated I was and how I felt as though I wasn't doing anything worth while. I felt as though all my hard work was falling by the wayside and I was simply stuck in the same place and would remain there forever. This thought upset me of course and I began to become discouraged. And as the hours ticked by the feeling began to overwhelm me  until I was completely in tears. It was a terrible feeling and great moment of weakness for me.

I figured that I was just being emotional and that a good night sleep would help calm me. Unfortunately it did not. In fact, I felt even more hopeless and useless than I had the previous day. This did not bode well for me. I began to wonder why I was even trying and why I even felt that I was important in the first place...talk about a stupid thing to do right? So long story short: another crummy day.

Today didn't start much better either, but as I was sitting in an English lecture I kept thinking about why I love writing and why I love my family and why I am here. And you know what? The answers were simple and they rang true: I love writing because it frees me. It makes me happy. It allows me to create something beautiful. I love my family because they are treasures. They bring me joy and fill my life with such sweet memories...I couldn't give them up for anything on this earth. And why am I here? Well I don't really know the answer to that just yet...but I know that I'm here for a reason. I'm not useless and I'm not a mistake. I was meant to be who I am. I was meant to be here...and I was meant to do something with my life.

What a difference those thoughts have made! My spirit has been brightened considerably and I am grateful for the reprieve from sadness and despair. I don't like feeling that way, but sometiimes the pressure builds and you find yourself falling apart.

So, I apologize for not having posted sooner...life was hectic...but I will be more diligent in getting things written for you. I hope that there's someone out there who reads my blog and enjoys what they find here.

Until next time then,

-The Novice Novelist.

Day 25...a little belated...

Well I've done it again. I fell asleep last night on the couch and subsequently did not post anything for my blog...yep I'm a failure...I apologize to all you lovely readers for my stupidity and my horrible attendance at writing in my blog and in my novel...le sigh...I apologize! So here's a posting for you. Granted it is a little late but it's here for you to enjoy...and I promise to post at least one more time today...though I will try to make it two. Here's hoping!

Alright, I know I promised that I would have a posting from my novel in this post for you. However I thought I'd talk about something that I learned in my English class this week. We were talking about some 18th century writers and  one that really struck me was title, "Rambler No. 4" by Johnson. In this, he talks about the duty that writers have in the creation of their writing of the novel. And it really struck me. Yes granted he was talking about how we need to not be so fanciful with dragons and unique things of that nature, but the majority of his writing was about how we need to, as writers, be aware of the morals that we need to portray.

This made me consider my own writing and ask a few questions: what is the moral I'm trying to portray within my work? Am I trying to display an inspiring and unique story?

Anyway that's what I've thought...

Day 21: Imperfect Writing

One thing I'm sure every writer has dealt with is that insatiable desire to have a perfect piece of writing. However, every writer also recognizes that their writing is inferior in many ways...right?
Well at least that's how I feel. Very often as I sit writing, I have the urge to go back and edit and then edit again and then bang my head on the computer desk because my writing just sounds so stupid and mediocre and just annoying. The problem with this, is that not only does it discourage me and hinder finishing any project, it also isn't a fair assessment of my writing abilities. I've come to find that most authors are their harshest critics. The writings we do produce may never seem to be "perfect" and appropriate to our standards. But the problem is that we don't look at what others may think. Our opinions are the ones that cause the problems.

So my challenge to all those of you who are eager writers: don't think that you don't have the ability to write. Ask someone to read your work and don't be afraid to understand criticism from others. And make sure you never give up on writing.

-The Novice Novelist

Day 20: Is it weird?

Is it weird that I already know how my novel is supposed to end even before I have the middle sections filled out? Is it weird that I know how my entire series is supposed to end and how many books there is supposed to be?

I've often wondered how other writers go about the creation of their own works? Do they know the ending before they start the beginnings? Do they have trouble connecting the dots in the middle in order to get to the ending they've envisioned, as I do?

Perhaps that's the joy in creating something? Knowing the ending and having the ability to pull the strings of the plot to suit your purposes. Isn't that exhilerating? I think so at least.

-The Novice Novelist

Do You Ever Feel...

Do you ever feel as though you aren't going to be successful? What is the measure of your success? How can you gauge how great of a person you are or how much you contribute to the world?

Today I've been thinking that...I don't feel as though I've had a great influence on anything...I feel as though my writing right now is rathe mediocre...I feel as though I'm not really contributing much to anyone's imagination other than my own...I also believe that I'm not really attractive today either...I feel chubby and silly looking...it can get depressing don't you think?

But, I believe that I have the ability to do something good. I will get back in shape and I will continue to write. I will move forward and try to be happy. Whether or not someone enjoys my writing, it won't stop me from writing...I just want to express my passion for writing.